Kent Kalkwasser Mix

[shaywood]

I just bought some Kent Kalkwasser mix and I'm not sure if I mixed it right. I added 1 Tsp to 1 gallon of RO water. I shook the container thoroughly and let it set for 9 -10 hours. Everything I read says there will be a layer of sediment on the bottom. I don't have anything that I can see at the bottom? Also, It says the area above the bottom will be clear. Mine looks a little hazy. Any ideas?

[Poseidon]

It is better to mix Kalk without shaking it. By mixing in all the bubbles you allow it to come into contact with more CO2.

I used to mix mine with a powerhead, rather then shaking it....

[Reefland]

I would also let it sit for 24 hours to see if there is any change.

[charlesr1958]

To bypass the whole CO2 process, you may want to take a look at this article, it is the way I have been "pretreating" my powder for quite some time now with no issues at all.

kalkwasser

Chuck

[Ninong]

I just bought some Kent Kalkwasser mix and I'm not sure if I mixed it right. I added 1 Tsp to 1 gallon of RO water.

So far, so good. You can add any amount up to and including two teaspoons per gallon. Adding more than two teaspoons per gallon is wasteful because, unless you add vinegar, two teaspoons is the most that will dissolve in a gallon of water.

I shook the container thoroughly and let it set for 9 -10 hours.

This was not a good idea at all. Never shake the container. You are adding too much carbon dioxide from the air when you do it this way. Always stir the container. Stirring for 10 to 15 seconds is usually sufficient.

Everything I read says there will be a layer of sediment on the bottom. I don't have anything that I can see at the bottom? Also, It says the area above the bottom will be clear. Mine looks a little hazy. Any ideas?

There is usually a layer of sediment in the bottom of the container after it sits for several hours. The amount of sediment varies depending on the amount of Kalkwasser powder (calcium hydroxide) used. In your case, it may take longer for your solution to clear up because of the way you "mixed" it. Shaking it and/or allowing it to sit for several days results in a less effective product.

You can drip the solution you have just as it is (cloudy) or you can wait another 24 hours to see if it clears up first or you can dump this out and start over. In any event, in the future you will want to stir the container and not overstir it. Stir it just enough. Then leave it alone for several hours (8-12 hours is usually sufficient). You should see that the solution is clear and that there is a slight amount of sediment in the bottom of the container. You want to use just the clear solution without any of the sediment from the bottom of the container.

A couple of additional points of information. The sediment in the bottom of the container is a good thing. It means, among other things, that the Kalkwasser is purifying itself of heavy metals. This is not to say that your Kalkwasser mix contains heavy metals, just that it could contain heavy metals. That's because the FCC specification for food grade lime states that it can contain 30 ppm heavy metals. This is one of the reasons I prefer to mix Kalkwasser without any vinegar. I would rather have as much precipitation as possible in the container rather than less. I'm not knocking people who choose to use some vinegar but I prefer not to. At one point I used to add 15 ml (1 Tbsp) vinegar per gallon but then after reading Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley's article on metals in limewater, I decided to stop using any vinegar at all. An article written by Dr. Craig Bingman several years ago advised that it was acceptable to use as much as 45 ml (3 Tbsps) of vinegar per gallon. Adding vinegar allows more Kalkwasser to go into solution (more than just two tsps per gallon of water) but I decided I would rather not use it after reading all of Randy's articles. BTW, Randy doesn't use vinegar but he doesn't warn against using it either. Randy just prefers not to use it.

Here are links to Randy's articles on this subject:

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime

The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser)

The Degradation of Limewater (Kalkwasser) in Air

Magnesium and Strontium in Limewater

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme

Reading those articles should answer just about all of your questions about limewater (Kalkwasser). In case you don't already know this, Kalkwasser is just the German word for limewater (literally chalk water). Kalkwasser is a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide. Kalkwasser mix is nothing more than pure food grade calcium hydroxide, the same as Mrs. Wages' pickling lime or Ball's pickling lime or any other food grade pickling lime. I always used Mrs. Wages' pickling lime myself. It used to be much cheaper but they more than doubled the price over the past couple of years. I think they figured out that a lot of it was being use by reef aquarium hobbyists. When I first started using it, it was only $1.29/lb.

If you ever decide to buy pickling lime, just make sure it is 100% pure calcium hydroxide with no additives at all. That's because people like Mrs. Wages offer it in a variety of different packages and some of them contain additives. Hobbyists with large reef tanks will often purchase a 50-lb bag of hydrated lime (pickling lime) through a restaurant supply source. It's all the same stuff and the 50-lb bag is extremely cheap on a per pound basis. Once you stick a German word like Kalkwasser on the label and market it to reef aquarium hobbyists, you get to jack up the price.

It is best to mix just enough Kalkwasser solution for one or two days. It's fresher that way. It's OK to mix enough for say four or five days but that's about it as far as I am concerned. If a film forms on the surface, just skim it off with a large spoon -- it will lift right off in one piece. Always keep the container with the limewater (Kalkwasser solution) tightly closed.

[shaywood]

Wow, I'm impressed with the responses. Thank you very much. I'll be sure to stir, not shake


Thanks!

Shawn

[Old Man Of The Sea]

Next year when my reef tanks are completed and stocking them begins, I dissolve the Kalkwasser after mixing a little and I only pore into the reef reserve tanks only what is dissolved.

[shaywood]

I read through the incredients on Mrs Wages website. They say pickling Lime is made of pure calcium oxide. Is that they same as calcium hydroxide?

[Ninong]

I read through the incredients on Mrs Wages website. They say pickling Lime is made of pure calcium oxide. Is that they same as calcium hydroxide?

(1) Calcium oxide can be used to make Kalkwasser because it becomes calcium hydroxide when it's hydrated. In other words, when you add it to water, it chemically reacts to form calcium hydroxide but this is an exothermic reaction (it gives off heat). I prefer to use calcium hydroxide.

(2) Mrs. Wages pickling lime is: Food grade calcium hydroxide with no additives or preservatives.

I don't know where you found it listed as calcium oxide. That's the Mrs. Wages website. And I have used it for years and it was always calcium hydroxide. The only thing that has changed is that they have more than doubled the price in the past couple of years. When I first purchased Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime about four years ago, it was $1.59/lb at Wal-Mart and $1.85/lb online from the Mrs. Wages store. I bought only one pound at Wal-Mart and then when I went back later, they were out of it so I had to order it online and pay $1.85/lb. I think I bought 8 16-oz bags (it used to come in bags). Now Mrs. Wages is charging $3.85/lb online! I have no idea what Wal-Mart is charging because they're usually out of it.

P.S. -- Maybe the confusion is that they are telling you that they use pure calcium oxide to make their pickling lime. The finished ingredient is pure calcium hydroxide. You take calcium oxide and you add just enough water to it to satisfy it's affinity for water. You have now turned quick lime into hydrated lime (you have turned calcium oxide into calcium hydroxide). The only ingredient in the standard Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime is pure calcium hydroxide.

[shaywood]

Thanks for the claifier. This was the reference I found on the website, on the FAQ page:

21. Explain the chemical reaction with Pickling Lime.
The Pickling Lime has calcium oxide, which is absorbed into the tissue of the cucumber. The calcium oxide then combines with pectin to make/form calcium pectate, which makes the final product firm.